HIGH SCHOOL WRESTLING: Waynesboro tops Greencastle-Antrim 48-31

Friday

Jan 11, 2013 at 10:14 AMJan 11, 2013 at 10:17 AM

Aaron Layman won a gut-check match, John Atkinson experienced a baptism by fire, and the Waynesboro Indians wrestling team got some key bonus points in unexpected places on Thursday night against Route 16 rival Greencastle-Antrim. But, that was all incidental compared to what transpired before the Mid-Penn Colonial Division meet.

GREENCASTLE — Aaron Layman won a gut-check match, John Atkinson experienced a baptism by fire, and the Waynesboro Indians wrestling team got some key bonus points in unexpected places on Thursday night against Route 16 rival Greencastle-Antrim.But, that was all incidental compared to what transpired before the Mid-Penn Colonial Division meet.Cloaked in secrecy until just prior to the on-mat introductions was Waynesboro wrestlers donning T-shirts with the words “Take Down Cancer” in support of Mindy Rouzer, wife of Tribe assistant coach Mike Rouzer.Mindy Rouzer was recently diagnosed with a recurrence of breast cancer during her 5-year checkup after undergoing treatment for breast cancer that started when she was diagnosed with the disease at the age of 30. She is scheduled to undergo surgery next Friday at Johns Hopkins Cancer Center.“Jesse Smith was the one who started it,” said Waynesboro head coach Eric Mowen of his senior 145-pounder. “There you’re talking wrestling family. I didn’t know they were going to do it. No one knew about it except the kids. (Mike Rouzer) didn’t even know about it. He was taken by it. The Greencastle fans actually clapped when they saw it.”Wrestling, known for stoicism and unflinching effort in the face of close quarter combat, is also a sport of unmatched support within that close-knit community.For Mike Rouzer, it was a special moment.“When they warmed up, they came off the mat for introductions and they started taking their tops off,” Rouzer said. “I started to get on a couple of them because we wanted them to keep their warmups on. They didn’t listen to me. It took a minute to process. When I did see it, I got a little choked up.“It was amazing those kids took it upon themselves to do that. This is more than just a sport. This is a family thing. That was never truer than (Thursday night). There has been overwhelming support.”Mindy Rouzer, a chiropractor in Blue Ridge Summit, informed her patients about the surgery and is now ready to take on the disease again.“We went to the 5-year visit and they came out and got me and took me back,” Mike Rouzer said. “They found a spot they were worried about and biopsied it on the spot and it came back. It didn’t go anywhere else, no lymph nodes. We were lucky there.“She takes things in stride and moves on with her life. Seeing Mindy go through it that’s the best way to do it. She never pitied herself and never wanted sympathy. She takes things on herself.”

The match

Layman, a sophomore who bumped up to 120 pounds after wrestling 106 a year ago, fell behind senior Blue Devil Wade Rider 5-2 in the second period but rallied behind a third-period reversal before winning by fall in 4:45.“That’s huge when you’re losing and you don’t give up,” Mowen said of Layman’s win. “That’s what we expect from our wrestlers. He was able to get that reversal.”Last year, Waynesboro’s Colby Mowen defeated Rider with a cradle hold. This year, Layman wasn’t able to work a cradle like Mowen did. Instead, Layman creating a pin opportunity off a scramble.“Aaron likes cradles, too, but he wasn’t able to because his arms were shorter,” Eric Mowen said. “I thought we would win the match, but not a pin. He finished stronger than I thought. He’s learning all the time and improving all the time.”Layman’s win highlighted a competitive meet that saw the Blue Devils give up 18 points on forfeits (126, 132 and 160). Waynesboro — which won five matches by pin — forfeited two weight classes (182 and 195).G-A’s Cody Carbaugh, ranked second in District 3 at 113 pounds, remained undefeated after recording a fall against sophomore John Atkinson in 1:46 in the opening match of the night. Carbaugh, a two-time returning district tournament qualifier, led 11-0 at the time of the pin.“We wrestled competitively,” said G-A head coach Fred Yelton. “We had a lot of nice matches. Jenson (Stoner) has wrestled well. He held on for three periods. I like our conditioning and our senior leadership with Cody (Carbaugh), Wade (Rider) and Ryan (Wolf). We have nice chemistry and nice camaraderie.”Layman tied the meet after his pin, and Colby Mowen and Cody Frey both won by forfeit to make the score 18-6.The Indians kept the pressure on the Blue Devils on the heels of strong efforts by Kenyon Cuka (138) and Jesse Smith (145). Cuka pinned Juan Grazette in 58 seconds and Smith pinned Geoff Helfrick in 1:25 to extend the lead to 30-6.G-A made a match of it starting when Ryan Wolf notched a late first-period pin against Wes Cline in the 152-pound match. After G-A forfeited another bout, the Blue Devils reeled of three straight wins — including two by forfeit. Jensen Stoner won a dramatic 9-8 bout against Patrick Wade in which Wade rallied from a 9-4 margin but couldn’t turn Stoner for back points after scoring a two-point reversal with time running out.It was 36-27 after back to back wins by forfeit by the Blue Devils, setting the stage for the final three matches.Andrew Paterno exerted his power against Connor Bryant in the 220-pound match, winning by pin in 48 seconds. Then, Shawn Robinson picked a great night to win his first match of the season when he pinned Dwight Henning in 1:34 of the 285-pound match.“They won the toss and Shawn ended uup wrestling the better kid and pinned him,” Mowen said. “He ran a power half and got the pin. I was really happy to see that.”

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